1994, the Year of the Yule Ball
by thetoastdevil
Summary: What if our favorite Hetalia characters attended Hogwarts? What if they attended the Yule Ball with each other? Does chaos ensue, or is there almost painfully fluffy romance? T for Language. Contains Aushun, Pruhun, USUK, Spamano, Lietpol, and more.


_Hello! So, you may have heard of this Pottertalia thing I'm doing, there will be more about it in the footnote, seeing as I don't want to spoil anything, but basically I've been just kind of following my mind on this one, which was a nice break for a change and something I had a lot of fun doing. There could very easily be grammar mistakes and plot-holes seeing as I wrote this in the span of give or take twelve days? The idea has been in my head forever but I recently got really into it. I hope that this is enjoyed and if you want to see further plans I have of this, again, check the footnote. Please review and voice your opinion because I love reviews and constructive criticism. And, enjoy!_

_- Caroline_

* * *

_1994, the year of the Triwizard Tournament_

Elizabeta never asked to be sorted into Ravenclaw. Even in her sixth year at Hogwarts, she still struggled with keeping up with her house peers. She was told she was intelligent by her professors, but sometimes wondered if the teachers were obligated to tell the Ravenclaws that.

It's not that she was a dull student, she got average to above average grades, but it was too difficult to keep up, or she didn't really want to keep up, she dreaded a life filled only with studies.

Sometimes, though, it got to a point where she could no longer avoid it, frantically starting all her essays and reading assignments only a few days before they were due.

At this particular moment, however, she was finding it very difficult to do just that. As an asshole of slytherin, Gilbert, was using his free time to bug her by speaking very loudly and passionately about something (a very 'hot' Beauxbatons Academy girl) next to her in the great hall. He wasn't even talking to her and was still just as obnoxious.

Elizabeta vaguely remembered them being paired together in a project a couple years ago, he had messed around and ended up ruining it altogether. Gilbert still talked her ear off like they were friends, but she really didn't want to hear it, she wondered if anyone could bear the sound of his voice. He always seemed to have enough friends who would join in while he annoyed her. It was normal for him to find a way to be close to her while loud-talking. Especially in a place as common as the Great Hall.

Elizabeta was on her last straw when Gilbert sat up and waved his arms around, nearly hitting her in the face multiple times. "Gilbert." She growled to the Slytherin. He continued to talk, the only attention paid was from his friends who glanced over at her with discreet but slightly amused expressions.

Finally, she slammed her book down and grabbed her things, including her robe which she wrapped back around her uniform after situating her wand in the inner pocket.

A few scattered giggles were heard as she got up and headed back to the halls, passing few Hogwarts students but quite a lot of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students. Seeing as no events involving the Triwizard Tournament had happened too lately, it was easy for Elizabeta to forget they were even there. It's not like any immediate friends of hers were in the tournament.

The extra students could be a problem though, seeing as it was very difficult to find a place to finish schoolwork that wasn't your dorm. Dinner was soon, so Elizabeta didn't want to bother getting situated anywhere that she would have to leave as soon as she settled.

Hoping for an empty classroom, or at least an empty room nearby, she continued down the hall. When turning into a slightly less populated hallway, she was overwhelmed suddenly by the sound of a piano. A piano that was actually playing quite lovely music, she followed the sound and found herself at the door of a music room she hadn't ever had class in. The door was slightly ajar and she glanced in.

Elizabeta couldn't get a very good glance at the person playing, but they were definitely a Hogwarts student with those robes, she couldn't see the house colors on it from here, and was about to open the door when she realized how rude it would be to bother the student, she stepped away and decided a bench next to the room would be a pretty good place to finish her schoolwork.

Elizabeta hadn't even finished a problem when she realized a ghost was standing in front of her, looking at the door with a faraway expression. "Excuse me?" She asked the ghost, she had always been fascinated by spirits and liked to make small talk with them, the stories they told and things they said always seemed to be from another world.

The ghost turned, proving to be a plump, friendly looking woman who appeared to have a knife lodged in her side. "Oh, sorry," The ghost paused, sighing nostalgically "It's just- Isn't he lovely? Whenever he's here I find time to listen. I don't know if he's seen me watching, he hasn't said anything."

"Oh." Elizabeta said. "Yes, the music is very nice."

The ghost nodded, "It has so much feeling! It almost sounds..." She trailed off, looking for the right word. "Lonely."

Elizabeta could only nod in reply, and the ghost smiled and waved goodbye, turning around and floating off, leaving her conversation partner with her notes still splayed across her lap. She folded them up again, hugging them to her chest, accepting she wouldn't be able to concentrate anywhere but her dorm room.

Elizabeta wasn't ready to head back to the Ravenclaw house just yet, she would finish her schoolwork after dinner. She looked into the room again, no longer minding rudeness. Hey, if the guy really was lonely as the piano was saying, maybe she could cheer him up?

The student continued to play the slow and classical melody, she assumed he couldn't hear her, when she tapped him on the shoulder with her quill he stiffened, playing a wrong note and turning rapidly. Elizabeta came nearly face to face with a boy with dark hair that looked desperately styled, despite a large curl flying loose at the top. She immediately recognized him as a Ravenclaw in her year.

"R-Roderich?" She asked. The glasses and beauty mark were a giveaway anyways. When they were first years he had been commonly targeted by Gilbert. One day Elizabeta actually punched the boy in Roderich's defense (It might've been sort of an excuse to punch him). She would've liked to have been his friend, but he wasn't around too much. Was this why?

"Yes." He said, slightly grumpily. "Liza, right?" Elizabeta nodded in reply.

"I'm sorry to bother you, I just heard you playing-" She smiled. "It was awesome."

He chuckled at her word choice. "I guess it was going okay until-" Roderich paused, playing an out of tune key absentmindedly. "Never mind."

"Huh." Elizabeta laughed. "I've always liked music but I would never actually- It seems like a lot of effort. I didn't know you liked it."

Roderich didn't reply, going back to the piano and situating himself like he was going to play. Elizabeta stood there, surprised he wasn't going to continue the conversation. She stayed glued to her spot behind him, watching his hands fly across the keys.

This continued until dinner, Roderich got up and gathered his things, he glanced at her, a slightly surprised expression on his face, he hadn't expected her to stay. She smiled warmly in return.

It was quiet for a beat and Roderich asked "Um, Liza, you tried out for the Quidditch Team, didn't you?"

Elizabeta appreciated the small talk, but faltered at the topic. "Yes, I didn't make it, though." Roderich started walking, but she stayed next to him.

"Oh." He said, sounding surprised. "You seemed pretty determined."

"Well, yeah." Elizabeta scoffed, "It's not like the Ravenclaw Team is any good."

Roderich laughed. "You're right."

They continued to the Great Hall, where they retreated to their respective spots at the Ravenclaw table. Elizabeta settled next to her friend Lili Zwingli, who was talking to her older brother, Vash. Elizabeta sometimes thought the only reason the small Ravenclaw was her best friend was because she also seemed like she wasn't meant for the house. Her brother was a typical Ravenclaw, and Elizabeta thought the sorting hat probably got lazy for poor Lili.

"Where were you?" Lili asked. "You weren't here to help me with my potions homework. I had to ask Vash, and you know how he is about that." Vash exhaled next to her, biting into a piece of chicken. The only thing that kept these two apart was their personalities, they even looked near the same despite Lili's signature ribbon, he would've been here even if Elizabeta had been.

"I was- studying, or trying to." She paused. "You know Roderich Edelstein-?" Vash stiffened at the name, which was out of character for him, he usually very neutral about his opinions. Elizabeta ignored it, continuing. "He's really into music, apparently."

"Well, yeah." Lili replied. "You didn't know?"

"No?" Elizabeta said, surprised that everyone was already aware of this.

Lili smiled, changing the topic. "So, the Yule ball is coming up!" She said, bouncing slightly with excitement. "Do you think anyone is going to ask you?"

Elizabeta found herself shaking her head almost instantly. "No. I bet somebody'll ask you though, you've seen that Hufflepuff checking you out in DATD-"

Lili blushed and opened her mouth to talk, but was interrupted by her brother.

Vash sighed. "Nobody is going to be 'checking her out'. She's going with me."

"O-oh." Elizabeta said, feeling a bit of anger towards Vash who was keeping Lili away from some freedom.

Lili half-smiled. "Yeah. I don't really want to go with anyone else. It makes sense for me to go with Vash."

"That Slytherin will ask you to the dance, Liza." Vash said, as if this was the most obvious thing.

"Which Slytherin?" Elizabeta frowned.

"Oh! He's talking about the cute one with the white hair! I totally know who he's talking about!" Lili said, obviously proud for figuring that out.

"R-really?" Elizabeta hoped they weren't talking about who they thought she was. "Gilbert?" She tugged at her robes, looking away from Lili and contemplating this possibility.

"Yes! Him, Ludwig's brother, right?" Lili smiled scandalously.

"How would you know?" Elizabeta questioned Vash, wincing at how harsh she sounded.

"Bonnefoy was talking about it in Divination. Apparently him and Antonio are helping the boy." Vash said lightly. "I'm going back to the common room." He told the two girls. "Lili?"

"Yes, I'm coming." Elizabeta's friend said, taking one final mouthful of chicken with her before she left.

Elizabeta felt a hollow pain in her stomach as they left. Was Vash right about Gilbert? He wasn't the lying type, so he thought what he said was true. Elizabeta felt alone. She didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but she definitely didn't want to ruin the Yule Ball for herself by going with Gilbert. She glanced around, about to get up and head for the common room herself when she heard two familiar voices coming up behind her.

"She is pretty, but I'm not sure I'd want to commit to just one person for the Ball. I'm not sure about those Beauxbaton girls."

"Si! One asked me to go with her just the other day, I had to turn her down, though! I felt awful!"

Antonio and Francis. They appeared to be walking right towards her. What if they were coming to ask about Gilbert? She wasn't going to let that happen just yet.

Elizabeta jumped up and looked around the Ravenclaw table for anyone to sit next to. If she was talking to someone, maybe they would ignore her.

The first person she laid eyes on was Roderich, and she sat down next to him without a second thought. Grabbing his shoulder, she pulled him so he was facing her. "Uh, hi." She said, smiling. "Act like you're talking to me."

Roderich opened his mouth, partially in shock and finding out what he should say.

"Now!" Elizabeta hissed, the urgent tone in her voice must've given him a hint because he began to talk, slightly awkwardly.

"Um, so...what do you think about Harry Potter? He's quite impressive in the tournament." Roderich scratched his neck, giving Elizabeta an apologetic look.

"I'm rooting more for Fleur Delacour. She's the only female in the tournament, so of course I'm cheering for her." Elizabeta replied, mouthing a quick _thanks_ after saying that.

"She doesn't seem too smart though, something that I look for, being a Ravenclaw and all." Roderich nodded to her, looking more relaxed and a lot more sincere.

"Of course, but we shouldn't judge her just on that."

"We also shouldn't judge her by gender." Roderich pointed out.

Elizabeta stifled a grin, instead frowning. "I'm just trying to give a fellow female my support."

"Are you?" He raised an eyebrow and Elizabeta grinned.

"I'm sorry." She said, laughing. Looking around, she saw that Antonio and Francis were now seated at the Slytherin table next to Gilbert. The thing that caught her off guard was that they were all staring at her. Antonio with a nervous smile, Francis with a thoughtful glare, and Gilbert with an angry expression. She and Gilbert locked eyes for a moment, but she looked away, her stomach aching and face burning.

"It's fine-" Roderich was saying. "Are- are you okay?"

Elizabeta looked up, attempting to smile. "Yes, I'm fine. Again, thank you. I should be heading back now." She stood up and walked away briskly, glancing back to see a confused expression on Roderich's face.

Now she felt even worse. "I'm sorry." She whispered to no one in particular as she exited the dining hall.

xxxXXXxxx

Lili sat in the common room, her homework spread across her lap and her quill twirling in her hands.

"You left me alone!" Elizabeta huffed to her friend. "What if he had tried to ask me to the Ball!"

Lili giggled. "You're worrying about it too much, it's not like going with him would be a bad thing-"

"I just...I need to think about this. What if he does ask me?"

"If I had known it would stress you out this much I would've corrected Vash." Lili sighed. "I need to do my homework."

Elizabeta rubbed her temple, groaning to herself. "I think I need some sleep."

Lili smiled, scratching at something with her quill. "I agree."

"Sorry that I'm troubling you with my problems."

"My brother started it, you're good."

Elizabeta smiled gratefully at her friend.

Lili raised her head. "It'll sort itself out, right-?" She was interrupted by two Ravenclaws entering the room. Elizabeta recognized Roderich instantly, his curl made him very easy to find.

Roderich caught her gaze and smiled, raising his hand in a small wave, she returned the gesture, feeling relieved that he wasn't mad about her abrupt departure.

Lili looked at her friend, eyebrows raised, and her face sporting a playful smile.

Elizabeta felt her face pinken. "I'm going to go up to bed now."

"Okay." Lili nodded and hid her face as she proceeded to giggle into her homework.

xxxXXXxxx

Elizabeta enjoyed Herbology, their class didn't do much and the greenhouse looked so normal, and it was refreshing to have a class that wasn't in a castle.

Professor Sprout was especially bubbly today, which didn't happen too much and meant they weren't going to do much in class today.

"Okay, students, today we will be checking on our Fanged Geraniums." The professor smiled and clapped her hands together. A Hufflepuff boy raised his hand tentatively.

"Professor? We're sixth years...the Fanged Geraniums are in the fifth year curriculum." He said, quietly.

"Well, Matthias, I don't think that matters! We can check on them for the fifth years, refresh our memories with how they're cared for." The Professor smiled. "Okay! Do we remember all the safety precautions? Wonderful! I'd like for you to partner up."

Elizabeta was about to pair up with one of her classmates, Yekaterina, when she was stopped by a tap on the shoulder. She turned to the smiling face of one Antonio Carriedo. "We should be partners!" He told her.

Antonio was too kind to turn down so Elizabeta nodded stiffly, scolding herself for forgetting that one of Gilbert's obnoxious Slytherin friends was in this class. As Antonio and her went to one of the plants she saw a few glares from the other girls in the Herbology class, reminding her that Antonio was one of the top picks for a date to the Ball, along with Gilbert and Francis.

Antonio stayed a respective distance away from Elizabeta, she had always been puzzled when it came to him being a Slytherin, even if he was friends with Gilbert, he was one of the kindest people she had ever met. She wondered if he had some secret ambition that had placed him into the house. The Spaniard seemed so carefree all the time, so, if so, he was good at hiding it.

"Sorry if I caught you off-guard there. I know we aren't too close." Antonio beamed, as if they really were close.

"It's fine." Elizabeta said, glancing at him suspiciously. Was he going to ask about Gilbert? She pushed the thought away with disgust.

They worked with the plant in silence, Antonio received a quick nip from it and smiled sheepishly. "I'm going to get a bandage, sorry about that." He waved at Elizabeta as he left.

It took him forever to actually get a bandage from a well prepared Professor Sprout, he kept stopping and talking to everyone, asking about their day like they were friends, causing Elizabeta to think it would've made a lot more sense for him to be in Gryffindor.

Class couldn't be too far from ending, and Elizabeta felt herself relaxing, if she was lucky he wouldn't have time to ask about Gilbert.

The girl Antonio was talking to blushed and giggled, and when he looked up and saw Elizabeta surveying this he smiled and indicated back to her, saying he needed to finish with the Fanged Geranium. The girl nodded, but her smile fell as he turned around and starting walking back towards Elizabeta. His walk was relaxed and he apologized for taking so long to get a bandage.

"No problem." Elizabeta said. "We aren't doing much anyways." Antonio noticed she sounded a bit too happy about this.

"So, do you have any plans for the Yule Ball?" Antonio said, sounding very casual and a bit tedious on the subject.

Elizabeta sighed. Here it was.

"If you're asking if I'm going with anyone the answer is no." She said, rushed and reserved.

"Hm? I thought you were going with Roderich Edelstein." He said.

"You did?" Elizabeta sounded a bit too shocked. "Why?"

Antonio's eyes widened. "Ju-just something I heard. I shouldn't of said anything." He said, raising his hands apologetically.

"It's...fine. Are you going with anyone in particular?" Elizabeta asked, hoping she could stray away from the discussion of her and the Yule Ball.

This tactic seemed to work, because Antonio took the bait with an excited jump. "Yes!" He said loud enough for peoples heads to turn. He reddened and lowered his voice to a normal level. "I'm going with Lovino Vargas."

Elizabeta froze. "You're- going with a guy?"

"Oh, yes." Antonio looked distant at the mention of his date, "Is that a problem?"

"No, not at all." Elizabeta was honestly not that surprised with this arrangement the more she thought about it, she had actually thought about the two ending up together before. Antonio was always trying to brighten the prickly Slytherin, and in hindsight, it didn't seem too 'platonic'. The lingering hands and affectionate glances were common things to see from the two. Still, Antonio seemed like this was the best thing that had ever happened. It was actually quite adorable.

"He's just going to look so cute in his robes and-" Antonio gushed about his date, making Elizabeta yearn for something she could be as excited about. The Gilbert thing aside, she really did want to go to the Ball with someone, she had already received a letter from her mother about a dress, and it would be nice to experience the glamor of an actual Ball.

Elizabeta smiled at Antonio, and he returned the grin. "I'm sorry, I was blabbering, wasn't I?"

"No, I was just thinking that you're going to have a lot of explaining to do to all those girls that were hoping to go with you."

Antonio smiled regretfully, still with the same level of happiness. "I've already had to turn a few down, hopefully the word will get around that I'm not exactly interested..." He scratched at his head, and while he was in his thoughts the bell rang.

"Hey, Liza?" He asked Elizabeta as she grabbed her things.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for being cool and letting me tell you all this. Hope you find a great date to the Ball!" And with that, Antonio slid away, rushing into the crowd and starting up a conversation instantly.

Elizabeta wondered if this was the last she'd have to worry about the Gilbert thing.

Something told her that it wasn't.

xxxXXXxxx

Lili sat on the edge of her bed, head extended forward and legs kicking like a young kid. Elizabeta had always laughed at Lili because she looked and acted more like a first year than a sixth year.

"He asked me to be partners with him." Elizabeta told her, again.

"Anything else?" Lili prodded, wanting more than that.

"No, we cared for our plant and that was that."

"How?" Lili said, more to herself than her friend. "How are you partners with Antonio Carriedo? How are you partners with him when _nothing _happens?"

"Well, I think something was meant to happen, but he delayed it by getting bitten by our Geranium, and you know Antonio. He has to talk to everyone." Elizabeta paused. "He was going to talk about Gilbert...but I distracted him, I think. And maybe in the process got him off my case?" She continued hopefully.

Lili indicated for more and Elizabeta sighed. "Then the bell rang and class was over.

"Liza." Lili shook her head, faking disapproval. "What did you distract him with?"

"Talk of his date to the ball?"

"He's...taking someone?" She paused. "I thought he was going stag. Something about 'wanting to dance with everyone'."

"Apparently not." Elizabeta thought about it. "He's really excited about who he's going with though, like, beyond normal Antonio excited."

"It's probably that Beauxbaton girl...she was all over him the other day!" Lili interrupted. Elizabeta smiled at her friend, enjoying her normal talk that she started up when her brother wasn't around.

"No, it's another Slytherin."

"What? All the Slytherin girls look like pigs, he would've been better off taking Vash!" Lili picked at her bedspread. "And Antonio's too nice for them-"

"He's going with Lovino Vargas." Elizabeta said.

Lili stopped and looked up. "Oh?" She paused. "How...interesting." A smile was growing on her face.

"Just another Slytherin he's 'too nice for'?" Elizabeta said.

"No, they're adorable together!" Lili cried. "And it isn't all that surprising, I mean, come on!" She rolled her eyes. "And he's all happy about it? That's so cute!"

"Calm yourself." Elizabeta smiled. Her friend's excitement was amusing.

"Well, that's a lot more exciting than my news." Lili complained.

"And what's that?"

"Harry asked Cho to the ball, she was talking about it in the common room. She's only a fifth year and has been asked twice already! Both times by wizards in the tournament!"

"I thought you were going with your brother?" Elizabeta questioned.

"Well, yes...but it'd be nice if someone asked me." Lili said wistfully. "You're so pretty, and you're already probably going to be asked by Gilbert. I don't know, it'd just feel nice, I guess."

"Don't hope I get asked by Gilbert."

"I know, I know." Lili lied down on her bed, robes forming a small circle around her, they were hand-me-downs and had always been too big.

"I just...you know, I can wish, right?" Elizabeta felt pained to hear Lili's forlorn tone.

"We still have a couple weeks. And don't imply you aren't pretty when you're-"

"I'm mistaken for my brother all the time, even with my bow. Most of the time I take pride in looking like him, but sometimes...Never mind. I'm being dumb and I've got homework." Lili sighed, lifting herself off the bed.

"I have to grab something from Professor Flitwick, so I'll see you." Elizabeta winked at her friend as she exited. "Good luck."

Lili wiggled her fingers at her friend's departing figure. "Bye!"

Elizabeta jumped down the stairs from the girl's dormitory, her robes flying behind her with large strides through the hall.

She halted as she proceeded to nearly bump into another student. Mumbling a quick "Sorry," and looking up at them." Her gaze was met with familiar indigo eyes. "Oh! Roderich, it's you!"

"It is." He replied. "Hello."

"Hey. Where're you heading?" Elizabeta said in a friendly way.

"The music room you previously saw me in." Roderich replied.

"Hey! Professor Flitwick's class is close to that room, I'll walk with you." Elizabeta said, feeling like apologizing to the young wizard.

"Charms?" Roderich asked, politely.

"What? Oh, yes, not my best subject, but I manage."

"What do you need?"

"I forgot to pick up the assignment. Just me being a dutz." Elizabeta kicked at the floor as she walked, making it appear as if she was skipping.

"Don't call yourself a-"

"Hey! Where's your accent from?"

"Pardon?"

"I've been wondering for years, apparently nobody really knows."

"I was raised by Austrian parents, and adapted their accent."

"Austria?"

Roderich nodded.

"Cool." Elizabeta paused. "That's similar to me, if you listen I have an accent? That's because I was raised by Hungarian parents."

"Here's the Charms classroom." Roderich said.

"Yes. I'll be right back." Elizabeta grabbed the assignment and looked over it, groaning. She didn't understand half of the content and it was incredibly long, as she exited the classroom she was surprised to see Roderich still standing there. "You're still here?" She asked.

"Well...the 'be right back kind' of implied you wanted me to wait?" Roderich's face reddened and Elizabeta smiled at him for a second, surveying her classmate. He sure was stuffy, but it was in a good way, and Elizabeta couldn't help but find it endearing.

"Thanks." She said, turning her head to look at the Charms assignment.

"Having trouble there?"

"No. It's just that- I don't understand any of this."

Roderich looked amused. "Well, it isn't easy for everyone."

"So you've done it already?"

"Yes."

"Oh. Well, thanks, Lili will want me back."

"I'll help you." Roderich offered, rather rushed.

"Really?" Elizabeta didn't know what to say to this. She felt a heat rise to her face and hope she hadn't visibly blushed.

"I need to practice my composition...but I could check, just to make sure you're doing it right?"

"Yes, that'd be nice." Elizabeta told her classmate, twisting her robe in her fingers.

"Good." Roderich started down the hall, entering the music room and setting a folder on the stand.

"Do you play anything other than piano?"

"I used to play quite a few things that I could pick back up if I wanted to." He paused. "I do like violin."

Roderich began his playing, and to be honest, it relaxed Elizabeta. She stood against the wall with her legs crossed, feeling as if it would be rude of her to sit down. Occasionally he would cease and glance at her, as if to make sure she hadn't left, his face sported the same confused and pleased expression everytime he looked at her, the corners of his mouth twitching. Elizabeta made a project of trying to beam back at him everytime he looked away from his music, trying to prod a smile out of him. When Roderich noticed this he would look away quickly.

When Elizabeta finished the Charms assignment she set it on top of the piano, causing Roderich to stop with a rushed mess of his hands. He glared at the paper for a second before glancing at Elizabeta and picking it up tentatively.

It was silent for a moment before he said "This one's wrong." He indicated at the problem with a finger.

"What? I thought I got that one right!" Elizabeta said, more teasing than serious.

"No, that's not the verbal spell to an Aquamenti Charm."

"But that's not fair! We're learning about non-verbal spells to the Aquamenti Charm!" She stifled a giggle.

Roderich realized she was joking and looked at her over his glasses with a half amused/ half disapproving expression.

"That seems to be the only one wrong." He said. "You just aren't sure of yourself, that's your problem."

"I'm sure of myself!"

"Not when it comes to schoolwork."

"Shush." Elizabeta said.

Roderich smiled at her, looking slightly condescending. Elizabeta let herself smile back, forgetting any worries about anything in particular for a second. They were brought back to her in a moment when she remembered what she had wanted to say to Roderich in the first place.

"You remember at dinner that night when I asked you to act like you were talking to me?"

"Of course."

"Well, I know I've already thanked you but I'd like to again. You were cool on short notice and I left kind of rudely. I would've continued the conversation but-"

"Liza." Roderich said quickly, eyes glowing and face in an uncharacteristic half-smile. "It's fine. If anything it was...fun."

xxxXXXxxx

Meeting Roderich in the music room became a normal occurrence. Elizabeta and Roderich had fallen into a slight routine, she would go to the music room and find that Roderich was already in there, he wouldn't give any indication that he knew she was there even though he did, and Elizabeta would sit and do her school assignments that he would check.

Roderich had told her that she was allowed to sit on the floor, and it wouldn't bother him too much (joking, of course). So she had found a spot that was comfy and close enough to Roderich to study him.

The first time she had sat there Roderich looked at her with an odd expression which the majority of looked confused.

Sadly, when Elizabeta made the slightest movement in her spot Roderich would become distracted and mess up his music, causing him to curse under his breath and eye Elizabeta with suspicion.

One day when Elizabeta was tired of her mess of curls getting in her way, she tied her hair up. As she did this Roderich had stopped and looked at her, when she raised her eyebrows in a questioning way he averted his eyes with the hint of a gulp and said "You look good with your hair up." Elizabeta turned away and continued her assignments without responding. The piano music started up again quickly.

Today wasn't any different than any of the days, but she was wondering about something and took the odd chance to ask and/or interrupt Roderich.

"What did happen between you and Gilbert?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean the rivalry you two seem to have with each other." Elizabeta said.

"It's not a rivalry, per say." Roderich looked thoughtful.

"Never mind." Elizabeta told him. "It's not that important." Roderich nodded to her and continued his music.

Coincidentally, this had reminded Elizabeta of what may or may not happen with Gilbert. Earlier, she had dismissed the problem, but as it began to worry her again Roderich spoke up.

"To be honest, if I knew, I would tell you." Roderich said matter of factly.

"About what?" It pained Elizabeta to prove she hadn't been paying attention.

"My rivalry with Gilbert, to be completely honest, I'm not sure about it."

"Oh, yes, apologies. And thanks...for being open about it."

Roderich shrugged. "It's just a dumb rivalry." He paused. "Why do you want to know about Gilbert?"

It was a fair question, Elizabeta bit her lip. "He's a dick, I understand why you don't like him." Her eyes were met with indigo ones, proving Roderich was aware she had avoided the question.

"He hates me more than I hate him. All I see him as is a typical Slytherin with a big ego."

Roderich stood up at this and said "I'm going to head back up to the common room. Would you like to accompany me?"

"Accompany you?" Elizabeta giggled. "I think I know you well enough now, let's not be so formal."

"Formal?" Roderich smiled.

"Yes, you're quite uptight, if you haven't noticed."

He sighed. "I've noticed it and been reminded of it quite enough."

Elizabeta was quiet as they roamed the halls that led back to the common room.

"I'm sorry if I brought up a sore topic back there."

Roderich smiled. "You do know I was joking."

"What? You sounded the same as you always do."

"Well I'll be to notify you the next time I joke. You're quite unaware."

Elizabeta smiled at Roderich "I've noticed it and been reminded of it quite enough."

"That didn't sound like me, your attempt at an Austrian accent is pitiful."

"Well then," Elizabeta huffed jokingly.

After saying the newest password to the Ravenclaw painting (it happened to be palipatorius) they entered the house. "Goodbye." Elizabeta told Roderich, who nodded in return and headed up to the boys dormitory.

Elizabeta smiled to herself, Roderich was interesting, and enjoyable, she wondered why she hadn't noticed this sooner.

Elizabeta was literally pulled out of her thoughts by a frantic Lili, who looked awful with a puffy face and messy hair. Lili grabbed at her friend's robes and rushed up the stairs to the girl's domitiory.

When they had entered their dorm Lili's eyes welled up with tears. She sat on her bed and wiped them away with the heels of her hands.

"Hey? What's wrong?" Elizabeta sat next to her friend, petting her hair with a comforting hand. This hadn't happened in a while. Elizabeta had comforted Lili many times before, some reasons were dumber than others, but Lili got easily choked up about things.

She sniffed, wiping her nose with a hand. "I'm sorry! It's just, do you remember what I told you a couple weeks ago? About the dance?"

"About wanting someone to ask you?" Elizabeta asked.

"Yeah." Lili paused, wiping an eye with a hesitant hand. "Th-that Slytherin girl...Natalia Arlovskaya wasn't too kind about it." She held her face in her hand.

"About what? The dance?"

Lili nodded. "She poked fun at Vash."

Elizabeta looked at her friend, she was all too familiar with this subject. She knew that she shouldn't feel this way, but Lili got a bit overly sensitive when it came to her brother. Vash could care less if he was made fun of, and Lili seemed to take all of the people who did way too personally.

"She also said nobody would ask me, I just-" Lili paused. "I really wish I could say she's wrong."

Elizabeta frowned to herself, wishing the same. "Do you feel better now?"

Lili wiped at her face again, smiling ruefully. "Sorry about that."

"Don't say sorry."Elizabeta told her.

"On the bright side, a really nice Beauxbaton girl comforted me...sort of." Lili said distantly.

"How so?"

"She said I was adorable, and she thought that someone would ask me." Lili paused. "She told she liked my bow, I think she thought I was younger than I am or she just really liked bows, she had a red one despite the blue uniform and-"

Elizabeta didn't reply.

"Oh! You would know who she is! She's the one that was all over Antonio. I think her name is Belle."

Elizabeta nodded along to Lili, but really she was thinking about something else.

Elizabeta knew what she was going to ask Roderich tomorrow.

xxxXXXxxx

Elizabeta usually snuck into the music room, careful not to distract Roderich. She would always just linger at the door for a moment, just taking in the piano music. Today, this seemed to be her mistake, as Elizabeta turned she was about to walk when she was cut short by two figures. Groaning to herself, she faced the two.

She surveyed them, and a familiar brunette looked away. The other was a handsome blonde with long hair he tossed over his shoulder like an ass. It made Elizabeta's blood boil.

She had known this would happen at one point, and grudgingly said "Hello, Antonio and Francis."

"Hola!" The Spaniard smiled, biting a lip nervously.

"Mon cher," Francis held out a hand, pulling it back after Elizabeta ignored it.

"Do you need something?" Elizabeta said cooly.

"A word?" Francis asked.

"No." Elizabeta replied.

"But you asked?" Antonio said, looking too incredibly confused. Elizabeta felt a flash of disappointment to see him acting so...stereotypically Antonio. It was much too fake.

"Can you just get it over with and what not?" Elizabeta waved a hand.

"Well..." Francis started.

"Yes, I'm sure it won't take long!" Antonio continued happily, Francis sent a dark glare his friend's way.

"Okay, fine." Elizabeta growled, letting on. Francis laughed in his dumb way and looped an arm around her waist. She was off instantly and nearly walked away until she heard a "Liza, wait!" It was Antonio.

"Stop acting like I owe something to you." She dismissed the Spaniard. "And you," She shoved a finger in Francis' face "Keep you hands off me." Francis took a step back and Elizabeta crossed her arms. "Now, what is it you wanted to say?"

"I don't even see why he likes her aside from the appearance." Francis appeared to be saying this to Antonio, who ignored him. "Sometimes, that is the only thing that matters, no?"

Elizabeta glared at Francis until he shut up, and looked to Antonio. "Can I ask again? Please just get it over with."

"Well..." Antonio started.

"You know our friend Gilbert." Francis was interrupted by Antonio "He's a good amigo!", he spared a glance for Antonio and continued. "Quite handsome, ambitious-"

"Big headed, loud?" Elizabeta continued.

"Well, he has seemingly become keen on you." Francis continued, without a sign he had heard her.

"He's calling it the not-so-awesome syndrome." Antonio added.

"Well isn't that...great." Elizabeta smiled tightly.

"Now me and Antonio-"

"Antonio and I." A voice said behind her, Elizabeta turned to see Roderich with a stony expression. "Hello, Liza." He said to her.

"Well! We really should be going!" Antonio said, turning as Francis pulled him back.

"Oh? If it isn't our old friend Roderich." Francis jumped towards him and looped an arm around his shoulder, smiling. "You haven't gotten any less handsome, maybe even more? Now, can we finish our conversation with Elizabeta, mon cher?" Francis pulled his arm back, Roderich glared at it with a disgusted expression.

"By all means, finish what you were going to say." Roderich said with no intention of moving.

Francis raised a curious eyebrow. "Well _Antonio and I _are quite the romantics, and since our friend Gilbert-" He paused to look at Roderich "Has been wanting to ask you to the Ball, we decided to help him out and ask him for you. So, in conclusion, would you go to the Ball with Gilbert?"

Elizabeta looked straight at Francis with a solid "No." Causing a surprised look from the Frenchy, Antonio just looked relieved.

"Why not?" Francis had clearly expected at least some hesitation.

"Hm, I wonder. Well you weren't exactly discreet about who you told this to, so I knew about this in advance. I really don't want to go to the dance with him, and was panicking about looking like an ass when I said no." Elizabeta paused. "I'm lucky that this display was so pathetic, so I could easily turn the offer down, did he even consider asking me himself? And, finally, he has never once given me a reason to like him. In six years, not once. Now if you'll excuse me." Elizabeta pivoted with a whirl of her robes, entering the music room and sliding against the wall.

That had been easy, thank Merlin.

Roderich walked in hesitantly and instead of retreating to his normal spot at the piano, he set himself on the floor in front of her. He was smiling, and Elizabeta laughed. "That was a bit harsh, wasn't it?"

"A bit?" He chuckled. "You don't seem to ever be 'a bit' harsh when it comes to Gilbert."

"And how would you know that, mister?" Elizabeta said. "It's not like I ever talk about him to you."

"You're exchanges aren't too discreet." He said. "I think most people have noticed."

"Ugh. Everyone just seems to expect I'm going to say yes. Can I hate someone without it being some actual deep feeling of love?" Elizabeta said. "I should 'feel happy' someone wants to go with me- but if I don't? I don't know. I just feel kind of alone in this."

"That's a good point." Roderich said.

"It's unsettling how much you act like Vash Zwingli." Elizabeta told Roderich.

Roderich looked up at her. "Him and I don't get along too well, unfortunately. I think we used to be somewhat of friends when I was a weak little first year."

"What happened to that Roderich?" Elizabeta said.

"The weak first year? I assume I got better at portraying my emotions through music instead of crying about it. I'm not exactly strong, though. I'm still weak, just better at hiding it."

"Are you? You do seem pretty weak to me." Elizabeta said, poking him with her quill.

"Well, we can't all be as strong as you, Liza." Roderich smiled at her. "If Gilbert bothers you at all about the ball again, you should beat him up."

"Beat him up? Or get someone to hex him terribly? I bet I could convince Kirkland..."

"Are you taking what I said literally?"

"Nope. Just playing along. I knew I wouldn't get such high praise from you."

"Who says I wouldn't?" Roderich asked, curiously.

Elizabeta raised an eyebrow, leaning back on her palms. "Oh! I had something I wanted to ask you."

"Yes?"

"So, obviously you were just reminded of the Ball, and I was wondering if you could do something for me."

"Involving the Ball?"

"Yes." Elizabeta frowned. "Well, somewhat."

She continued, trying to lack hesitation. "My friend is going with her brother...she has no choice in the matter- but, the other day, she expressed sadness towards nobody asking her."

"Oh?" Roderich said, a slightly pained look on his face. "You want me to ask her?"

"Yes, I'm so sorry, I was just wondering. I'm not forcing you to go with it, but she would definitely say no. You wouldn't have to go with her."

Roderich looked thoughtful "Well. I'm sorry that she's feeling sad about it."

Elizabeta tapped a finger hopefully, Roderich looked at her.

"Well, I don't see how it could hurt. Who is she? Please say it's another Ravenclaw." Roderich said, and Elizabeta giggled.

"Yes, it's...well, I just considered it could be a problem."

"How so?"

"It's Lili Zwingli, Vash's sister."

"Oh."

"Yeah, I'm sorry, it slipped my mind even though we just talked about it."

"I- as long as he doesn't find out, I can't imagine it being that being a big deal."

"Lili wouldn't think of it." Elizabeta smiled. "Thank you...so much."

"I'm doing just as you are," Roderich says.

"And what's that?"

"Helping out a friend."

Elizabeta smiled, feeling her cheeks redden slightly.

"Thanks, Roderich, a lot." She said, smiling widely.

"It's no problem, it's a simple request, I'm not breaking the rules doing it."

"Oh no! The rules?!" Elizabeta smiled jokingly. "Why aren't you a prefect?"

"I wouldn't have any time for anything else," He paused. "Especially piano."

"Well, I wouldn't have time for this if I played Quidditch so I guess we're both lucky." Elizabeta smiled, she had felt less disappointed about making the team after a while. By now she had nearly forgotten about it.

"Is there practice now?" Roderich asked.

"No, not with the tournament, but I'm sure people are on the field."

"Huh."

"Here," Elizabeta held out an arm. "You're coming with me."

Roderich looked at her from his seat on the floor.

"I know there isn't a tournament this year, but people still practice at the field." Elizabeta repeated, waving the hand she was offering.

"Fine." Roderich gave in, giving her his hand.

As Elizabeta pulled him up she said "We always listen to your piano anyways."

"Are you bored of it?"

"Nope. Just saying."

"You're a lot more demanding once you get to know people."

"Is there a problem with that?"

"No, just saying."

They walked the halls together, looking at the other students and wondering aloud "If I'm going to ask Lili too the Ball, it better be soon. I feel as if Francis is spreading the rumor you and I together."

"Already? Yeah, you're probably right. Can you ask before dinner, per chance?"

"I think so, that gives us quite a lot of time."

"Yeah, I guess so."

The Quidditch field had few people on it, unusual seeing as there were commonly people who practiced there. Elizabeta scanned the field, scanning for anyone on her house's team, finding only one Ravenclaw beater practicing his broom skills.

It was Ludwig Beilschmidt.

People were commonly surprised when they found out Ludwig was Gilbert's brother, even more surprised to find out he was younger.

The well built Ravenclaw was tough, to say the least, he was almost as tall as Braginski and Berwald, which was odd seeing as he was younger than both of them and they were the tallest things ever.

Elizabeta didn't mind Ludwig, but she would bet that he would know about where his brother's affections lay. She looked at Roderich nervously, he had undoubtedly spotted the German "Should we...?" She started but was interrupted by the whoosh of a broom and a confused "Roderich?'

Elizabeta looked up, startled to see Ludwig standing there, broom in hand. Of course, this was just her luck. Had somebody cursed her with this burden recently?

"You don't play Quidditch, what are you-?" Ludwig's eyes fell on Elizabeta momentarily, he didn't need to finish his sentence, but he did despite himself. "Doing here." It was no longer a question.

"Just seeing if anything interesting was going on." Roderich told him, not missing a beat. "You've met Elizabeta Héderváry, right? She's a Ravenclaw in my year."

"I believe I've heard the name." Ludwig said this politely, running a hand through slicked back hair as he held out his other hand, which she shook.

"Yes, I'm familiar with you also." Elizabeta smiled tightly. "On- from the Quidditch Team."

"Ludwig and I are family friends." Roderich explained. Elizabeta sent him a confused look. Did this mean he had also known Gilbert outside of school? What a small world it turned out to be.

"Well, goodbye, Roderich and Elizabeta." Ludwig smiled, looking a bit tortured, and turned to the Quidditch locker rooms, glancing back at them one more time before leaving with haste.

"Please call me Liza!" She called to him, almost positive he hadn't heard.

"Well, should we go? I don't know anyone else here."

Roderich nodded, pointing someone out. "You know him."

Elizabeta followed the direction of his finger, her eyes locking onto someone. "Well, yes, I know of him, but I don't know him."

Target was Gryffindor Keeper, Alfred F. Jones. He was in their year and got about as much hype as Cedric Diggory, and he wasn't even in the tournament. She looked away, even trying to talk to him wasn't worth the time and trouble.

Elizabeta looked back to Roderich "Stop being a smartass, let's go."

"You're kind." Roderich said wryly.

"I try." She paused. "Are you family friends with Gilbert, too?"

"Well, it'd be kind of hard to know Ludwig without knowing his brother." Roderich said matter of factly as usual.

"You didn't say anything, though?" Elizabeta asked.

"Well, it'd take too long to explain. Our relationship goes very far back, if you haven't guessed."

"Hm." Elizabeta paused. "Okay."

Roderich was quiet.

"I'm starting to get a bit of a headache, I'm going to head back to my dorm." She told Roderich.

"I'll be sure to ask Lili about the dance when I see her." Roderich reminded her.

"Oh, yes." Elizabeta turned to Roderich. "I'm incredibly grateful, thanks." She paused. "Lili will be having a better day than I am." She smiled, placing a hand on Roderich's arm briefly. "Thank you so much."

Roderich smiled. "You're making it out to be much more important than it is."

Elizabeta laughed. "I think I'd agree." Smiling, she turned away. "Bye, Roderich."

"Good-bye Liza." He said behind her.

"Thanks!" She said.

"You're saying it yet again?" Roderich asked.

"Thanks!" Elizabeta repeated, smiling criminally as she retreated.

This was turning out to be less difficult than she anticipated.

xxxXXXxxx

Elizabeta could've worried about Lili before dinner, but she left no room for it. Wallowing on her own, sulking about Gilbert was what she had selected to worry about herself, and yes, it was selfish, but in her mind, reasonable.

Her class assignments were done, so she headed down to the dining hall a bit early.

Nobody she really wanted to talk to was there, so she sat and tried to occupy herself by zoning out, the problem with Ravenclaws is that that didn't usually work.

"Liza?" A voice said, she turned to, yet again, find the smiling face of Antonio Fernandez Carriedo looking at her.

"I'm about done with you." Elizabeta muttered, Antonio appeared to ignore this comment entirely and keep on smiling. Why was it his smile never faltered? It was starting to make him look a bit like an asshole.

"Come on, bastard, she said she didn't want to talk." A voice close to him said, he was too short to be seen from behind Antonio, but she recognized the thick Italian accent immediately. It was Lovino Vargas, the grumpy one of the Vargas twins and Antonio's date to the ball.

"Did she? I didn't hear it." Antonio said absentmindedly, shrugging.

"I said I'm about done with you, Antonio." Elizabeta sighed. "I decided not to go to the dance with Gilbert, that's final."

"Hey, the bastard wanted to apologize, like the fucking sap he his." Lovino stepped forward, Antonio grabbed him with a lazy arm around his waist, Lovino half-heartedly pushed it away.

"Lovi! Being a sap isn't a bad thing." Antonio said.

"It shows weakness." Lovino growled at his- well, Elizabeta didn't know what to call it...Boyfriend? Date? Friend with benefits? Okay, that one was more of a joke. Boyfriend seemed like the most correct term.

"Anyways, he wants to say he's sorry, we're leaving." Lovino glanced from Elizabeta to Antonio, grabbing his boyfriend's forearm.

"I want us to be friends! I understand if you don't want to go to the dance with Gilbert, but that shouldn't stop us from-" Antonio called after her.

"Would you shut it? You're making a huge scene." Lovino snapped, his gaze was affectionate despite himself.

Elizabeta blinked. Had that just happened? Judging by the amused looks from people around her it very much was. _How wonderful,_ she thought glumly. Antonio was tiring just to be around, she was nowhere near wanting to be his friend. Why the hell had that happened?

More people were walking into the dining hall, and Elizabeta looked up to see food on the Ravenclaw table she was sitting at.

Somebody appeared next to her, and for a second she thought it was some sort of person who had used a teleportation spell until she realized it was just an ecstatic Lili.

"Oh my God!" She cried, gripping Elizabeta's robes excitedly. "You won't believe what just happened!" Lili said, breathing in deeply.

"What?" Elizabeta bit a lip, attempting to look generally surprised and confused.

Lili looked around frantically, her face flushed with color. She was extremely excited. Elizabeta didn't know how to feel about this. Was she guilty? She couldn't tell.

"R-Roderich Edelstein asked me to the Yule Ball!" Lili smiled at her friend expectantly. "I can't believe this! Like-"

"That's great!" Elizabeta said genuinely, even though Roderich wasn't sincere about asking Lili, her excitement was very much real.

"I know!" Lili pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear, her smile still staying tight and wide on her face.

"You had to say no, though." Elizabeta sounded disappointed.

"Of course. But someone still asked me, and that's enough!" Lili was talking rather loudly, and Elizabeta smiled nervously at her friend's enthusiasm.

"Be careful with Vash about this, if he finds out it could result in murder." She said to Lili with a smile.

"Yeah, absolutely, I was thinking about how bad it'd be if Vash found out. You know, I honestly thought Roderich was going to ask you, he's always so unusually friendly around you." Lili said. Elizabeta winced, thanking Merlin that Lili hadn't put two and two together.

"Well, maybe he was just trying to use me to talk to you?" Elizabeta smiled halfheartedly. "So...how did this happen?"

"When- how he asked me?" Lili questioned, getting a nod from her friend. "I was in the Library, getting a book recommended by Professor Trelawney-" Despite Lili struggling (by Ravenclaw standards) in her classes, she took pride in being a good Divination student, and probably one of the Professor's favorites. "And he was there. He was very much a gentleman about asking me, and he didn't even seem surprised when I turned him down. It was...sweet."

Elizabeta smiled, it wasn't hard to imagine Roderich asking Lili in his formal but dorky way.

"Well, not to rain on your parade, but I turned down Gilbert today."

"You did?"

"Well, the asshat didn't even directly ask me, he got Francis and Antonio to do it."

"Wow." Lili smirked. "He really put some effort into that."

"I'm sorry you had to turn Roderich down." Elizabeta told her friend again, wanting to stray away from the subject of Gilbert.

"Yes- I'm surprised he even asked me-" Lili started, yelping when a figure sat next to her.

"Asked you what?" Vash said, sounding suspicious.

Elizabeta nearly screamed with annoyance, of course this was happening. The was no way Lili could lie to Vash.

"Oh, um..." Lili closed her eyes, appearing incredibly tired. They flew back open and with a sniff she said "I was asked to the Yule Ball. I said no, though."

Vash put some food on his plate, staring at it with a blank expression. After a while he swallowed and asked "Who?"

"Excuse me?" Lili replied.

"Who was it? Who asked you?" Vash told her with an indicating hand.

"I don't know if you'd know them." Elizabeta interrupted.

"Than a name wouldn't hurt, would it?" Vash's tone was uncharacteristically harsh.

Lili's eyes were closed again, and she fiddled with her hands.

"Lili?" He asked his sister.

Lili sighed. "It was Roderich Edelstein."

Vash's eyes widened and he looked away quickly, his jaw clenched in anger.

This was bad, this was really bad.

Elizabeta studied Vash, waiting for his impending move. It wasn't a surprise when he lept up and started walking with a solid pace.

Elizabeta narrowed her eyes, realizing Vash was heading for Roderich. She tensed up, having just enough sense to not leap after her friend.

She ran a hand through her hair, tugging at her lip with a tooth.

Vash had gotten to Roderich by now and pulled him off his seat by the shoulder. Roderich's face was steely, but he looked nervous.

Vash was about Roderich's height, so he looked him straight in the face, growling with anger "You...are to stay away from my sister."

Roderich returned the hostile tone in saying "Is it really your right to force her to go with you?"

Elizabeta didn't know when she had gotten up, but noticed herself walking briskly towards the two, grabbing Vash with a painful ferocity.

"Would you cool it? She said no!" Elizabeta spat, she saw students staring at them from the neighboring tables.

"He didn't ask her because he likes her! He asked her to get to me!" Vash said. Elizabeta's eyes widened at his anger.

She lowered her voice. "Th-that's ridiculous."

Vash looked at her in anger. "Is it? Because I'm-"

"Look." Elizabeta hissed. "Understand that this was all in good intention, to make your sister happy. Roderich basically had _nothing_ to do with it."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Vash said to her.

"She was feeling awful about this and I-" Elizabeta inhaled. "I asked him to ask her."

Elizabeta hadn't known Vash could look angrier, but he did. "What kind of friendship do you have with my sister? Could you leave your boy posse away from her?!"

Vash pulled away, facing a teacher who had stood up to break up the fight. "There's no need to take points, we're leaving."

Elizabeta raised an eyebrow at the 'we're' and turned to see Lili looking at her with an expression that resembled a kicked puppy. Elizabeta opened her mouth to ask if she knew, but before she said anything Lili nodded and sniffed, dragging the heel of her palm across her eye. The siblings exited quickly, and Elizabeta was shooed to go sit back down.

Elizabeta rubbed a hand across her forehead. She should've expected more bad luck. Now not only Vash, but Lili was mad at her.

Finishing her meal quickly Elizabeta hurried away, seeking escape from prying eyes. It was rare for Ravenclaws to engage in fights, especially internally, within the house.

Elizabeta originally was going back to her dorm, the Ravenclaw's curfew was usually pretty strict. Although, she didn't want to face any of the Zwiglis just yet. She headed to the music room, knowing very well Roderich wouldn't be in there, but wanting the familiarity anyways.

Elizabeta looked at the empty room with disdain. More towards herself than anything else. The piano seat was open, so she sat herself down, feeling strange in the unusual place.

She noticed a figure in the corner of her eye and jumped, realizing it wasn't Roderich, but a ghostly figure. One with a knife lodged in their stomach.

"Hello!" She called, the ghost floated towards her with a benevolent smile.

"We've met before," The ghost said quietly.

"Yes, a long while ago." Elizabeta smiled.

"You're closer with the musician?" The ghost asked. "That's what I have observed."

"I guess so." Elizabeta laughed to herself, she hadn't really thought about how much closer she had gotten with Roderich.

"So, how is it knowing what his music's about now?" The ghost smiled mischievously.

"I- I don't-?" Elizabeta stated, brushing her hair away from her face to stare at the ghost in confusion.

The ghost pursed her lips in thought. "Well...to give you any kind of a hint. The music doesn't sound lonely anymore!" With that, she waved goodbye and escaped through a nearby wall.

"What-?" Elizabeta called after her, groaning when she received no reply. She laid her arm across the piano in exasperation, sending up a flurry of different notes.

"That's not how you play it." A voice piped up behind her, and Elizabeta turned, half expecting the ghost again, but finding Roderich. Her spirits lifted slightly, and she studied him.

"Are you going to kick me off? I didn't know you had night sessions." Elizabeta said, lacking the humor that would normally fill her tone.

"Well, I don't. I assumed you'd be here." Roderich said softly, seemingly tip-toeing around her drama with her friends.

"Well, you're quite the Ravenclaw, then." Elizabeta scooted across the piano stool, leaving space for Roderich. She assumed he would ignore the space, but he plopped down next to her without hesitation, coaxing a smile from her.

"You can't play piano, correct?" Roderich asked Elizabeta, looking at her through his glasses.

She shrugged. "Aside from the basics, no. I would much rather just listen to the music."

Roderich nodded. "I would play, but our curfew is soon, and it would attract attention."

"That makes sense." Elizabeta mentally scolded herself, proving again she wasn't incredibly fit for her house.

Elizabeta paused. "Why is it you followed me? It was my fault the whole Vash thing happened." Elizabeta turned to find indigo eyes studying her. Since they were stuck together on a piano stool, there wasn't a lot of space, giving Elizabeta a better chance to study Roderich's eyes. For the most part they were blue, but appeared more purple with the darker flecks in them.

Elizabeta shook herself out of her thoughts when Roderich was talking again. "You looked kind of-"

"Awful? Sad? Embarrased? Dumb?"

"No...just, I thought you would want someone-" Roderich closed his mouth.

"Well, I'm glad you went after me, otherwise I'd be wallowing in self pity."

Roderich smiled at this. "You know, you didn't need to get me to ask Lili to the dance, she was perfectly happy with going with Vash."

"I know, but we all want to be admired, right?"

"You don't seem to." Roderich said, sounding a bit wary of the subject. "You match people up with each other, but you aren't looking for anyone yourself?"

"You and Lili, that was hardly matching. As a first year I swear I tried to persuade Feliciano Vargas to propose to Ludwig Beilschmidt." Elizabeta laughed. "Maybe I'm like that girl from that dumb English muggle novel by Jane Austen. The one who hooks people up?"

Roderich looked at her for a second. "...Emma? You do know she ends up with someone in the end, right?"

"No. I haven't read it." Elizabeta stood up, smiling. "And I never told you I didn't want to go to the ball with anyone, I only turned down Gilbert."

Roderich folded his hands in his lap from the piano seat, looking at her with a confused smile.

"I'm not going to get a date now, though, the ball is next Saturday."

"You still have a bit over a week." Roderich said almost hopefully.

"I don't know about the dress. My mother was talking about one." Elizabeta smiled. "Are you going? Please tell me you don't have to wear one of those hideous dress robes."

Roderich looked amused. "I'm planning on attending, yes. I don't have a date yet, but I'm wearing a much more...traditional tuxedo. Rather a muggle one."

"Well, you'll blend in." Elizabeta raised an eyebrow at him. "No date?" She brushed away the sudden feeling of relief.

Roderich looked away. "Not really, to be honest I was I was going to ask you up until the whole Gilbert problem today."

Elizabeta's eyes widened, she tugged at a hair strand. "M-me?" She expected a flash of annoyance at this, but was surprised when a warm feeling settled over. Flattery.

Roderich sniffed and turned away, staring at the piano with narrowed eyes. "I- I don't want to make much of it if you don't want to go, though."

Elizabeta looked at Roderich, an eye twitching, suddenly bursting out into sudden laughter.

Roderich looked flabbergasted, and slightly disgusted, those mannerisms weren't exactly considered proper etiquette.

Elizabeta leaned over, wiping her face with a hand and gripping her stomach. "I'm sorry." She gasped, calming herself. "I just didn't think I was that...desired. I've been asked to the Ball by two people? What the hell?!"

Roderich blinked, starting to doubt his friend's sanity. "I'm...sorry?"

Elizabeta snapped back up, her face serious. "No...don't be." She paused. "Is there a chance that the offer still stands?"

"W-what?" Roderich sat up straighter, pushing his glasses up and loosening his tie a bit.

"To the Ball." Elizabeta said "I'd like going with you."

Roderich was silent for a moment. "Y-yes, of course it is, Liza."

Elizabeta smiled. "So this is like a-?" She stopped herself. "We have to go, damn curfew."

Roderich smiled at this, Elizabeta returned the gesture and offered him a hand, which was more affectionate than just offering to lift him up.

Their hands lingered, entwined until Roderich pulled away, wiping his hand on his robe, looking apologetic.

Elizabeta shoved him with her shoulder. "Y'know? I didn't get such a bad date to the Ball." Roderich chuckled at this and smiled at her, his face flushed red.

"Me neither."

xxxXXXxxx

Elizabeta sent a letter to her mother shortly afterwards, saying that she would, in fact, need that dress her mother had picked out, which had been described as a traditional dress for a Ball with a mess of greens. Her mother believed it brought out her eyes.

Elizabeta sat on her bed, Lili was across the room, silent and trying to avoid her gaze. She sighed, wanting to tell Lili about her date, talk to her about her dress. Though she had had kindling friendships with other Ravenclaw girls, she had always been the closest with Lili.

Elizabeta knew her mother well, so she expected her dress soon, maybe even by lunch. She needed something to do in her free time until then.

Knowing that the only thing that would make anything better was to talk to Lili, Elizabeta gave in, walking across the dorm and tapping her shoulder. Lili turned hesitantly, her eyes narrowed very slightly.

"Um, hey." Elizabeta said, receiving a wary blink as reply. "Did you understand the DAtDA assignment?"

Lili, polite as ever gave a quiet "No." And shook her head, her blue bow moving with her hair.

Elizabeta was pained by the way Lili was acting, she would've rather her been angry than this. She was acting as if they weren't friends.

"Well, thanks." She paused, stopping herself from turning to leave. "Lili, I'm so sorry."

Lili looked conflicted. "I know."

"Can I ask you to forgive me?"

"I-I already have. It's Vash that hasn't." Lili said solemnly. "I'm not supposed to talk to you."

Elizabeta nearly laughed at how ridiculous that was. "Vash isn't your parent...you're sixteen, for crying out loud!"

Lili smiled humorously. "He's eighteen, and my senior."

Elizabeta scoffed. "You need to stop listening to your brother."

Lili smiled at this. "He really does hate Roderich though, you should've thought that through."

"I shouldn't have done it in the first place, to be honest."

Lili laughed, her laugh was incredibly familiar, resembling the sound of a small bell. "You shouldn't have."

Elizabeta smiled slightly, would Lili be angry if she found out about Roderich?

"I was actually kind of flattered, you did it for the best. I suspected it too, Francis had been saying you were together." Lili was saying.

"I'm actually- uh..." Elizabeta paused. "I'm actually going to ball with him, heh." She turned away from Lili, hiding embarrassment.

Lili's eyes widened, her expression was kind. "Oh! Well, I guess Francis was right."

Elizabeta didn't reply.

"I'm not angry, you know. Maybe I would be if I still thought he meant it when he asked me, but not now, Liza." Lili laughed again.

"Well that's good. I don't think I'd be able to survive another person mad at me."

"What about your dress?" Lili bounced in excitement. She didn't leave time for Elizabeta to answer, going into talk of her dress, which was a bluish lilac, the color of her bow that was meant to tell her and Vash apart.

Elizabeta was happy to talk to Lili, and did that until the time of lunch came around.

"I think my dress might be here." Elizabeta told her friend, who started a brisk pace towards the dining hall that was a near run.

"What's the hurry?" Elizabeta asked Lili.

"Well, I want to see it!" Lili exclaimed, jumping back around and continuing to rush towards the food, seating herself in her normal spot at the Ravenclaw table, her eyes widening as she remembered something.

"Wait! What are we going to do about Vash?" Lili said. "He kind of wants us to stay apart."

"Um, well," Elizabeta scratched her head, a part of her wanted to say Vash needed to go fuck himself, but deciding to honor what her friend wanted. "I can sit with Kiku today. You'll see the dress in our dorm anyways, right?"

Lili tightened her mouth in disappointment. "Alright."

Kiku Honda was an interesting student, to say the least. Quite a lot of people wanted his friendship, even though he was usually extremely reserved. Elizabeta used to think it was because of his close relationship with the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, Alfred F. Jones, but even before than people had been obsessed with the quiet Ravenclaw.

When she was a younger student she joked with Kiku about a possible romantic relationship between two students, sparking somewhat of a friendship between him and Elizabeta.

Kiku eyed her as she sat down, offering a nod and small smile, more of a greeting than what most people got from the boy

"How are you, Elizabeta?" Kiku was one of the only people who addressed her by her full name, sometimes it was refreshing, but other times just a bother.

"Pretty good, you know?" Elizabeta said to him, scanning the room for her owl.

"Are you waiting for something?" Kiku asked her politely.

"Yes." She replied, not offering further information, another good thing about Kiku was that he didn't prod for more information.

After a meal that wasn't necessarily needed, Elizabeta spotted her family's old barn owl, who was having trouble balancing the package it was carrying. She smiled and stood up for her owl, since she wasn't in her usual spot in the table. It changed course and flapped towards her with stiff wings.

"Hey Laszlo," Elizabeta told the owl, stroking it's head. "You have something for me?"

Laszlo jumped the opposite way of the package, giving Elizabeta room to look at it. After deducting that his job was done he took off again, heading for one of the owl towers.

Elizabeta stood up with the package. "Goodbye, Kiku." She told the fellow Ravenclaw, standing up and finding Lili, cocking her head towards the doors, indicating she was going to go look at her dress.

Lili wasn't too discreet about getting up and following her friend, but Vash was oblivious to this.

Lili rushed up to Elizabeta, grinning expectantly, her eyes glancing at the package with excitement. "It's going to be so much more extravagant than mine. It's a only a loosely hanging plain lilac one."

"I like your dress." Elizabeta remarked, Lili's dress complimented her slight features.

After entering the house and rushing to their dorm Elizabeta ripped the package open, pulling out her dress.

Traditional wizarding Ball gowns were more old fashioned than muggle dresses, but they were prettier in Elizabeta's opinion. Her dress was breathtaking, a simple green color with yellow-green lace covering it. The sleeves were the same lace and about three quarters of her arm's length. The dress was looser at the bottom and came with a pretty emerald belt with gold accenting the edges. The belt would tie around her waist and come down as far at her knees. The skirt was just short enough to show her shoes, but the lace skirt covering it would drag on the floor.

Lili took the fabric delicately into her hands. "Oh, Liza." She said. "It's beautiful. Did your mom make this herself?"

Elizabeta shrugged. "I- I don't know." She was near speechless, this dress was gorgeous. She pulled it fully out of the package, looking at it closer, two smaller pieces fell onto her bed, and she inspected them.

The first thing she picked up was a pair of silk gloves, which only about reached her wrist, and had dark green bows on the end that matched the belt and made the white of the gloves stick out. She set them down, eyeing the second thing that appeared to be attached to a note.

Elizabeta gasped when she picked it up, seeing it was hairclip, a delicate and expensive one. It was simple, but breathtaking. It seemed to be a glass flower, one with pink accenting on the inside and white on the outside, with glassy green leaves before the clip.

"Now what's that?" Lili asked, taking it from Elizabeta and handing her the note. "Is that from your mother too?"

Elizabeta looked at Lili. "I'll need to read the note, I've never seen it before." Elizabeta examined it.

_My Dear Beta,_

_You're wondering what this pin is about, right? Yes, it's a bit much but I felt it necessary, you do need to look good, yes? You must get me a picture of your date. I'm sure he is adorable, only the best for my dear Beta, but curiosity killed the cat!_

_We are doing well, in case you were wondering. Your father and just received an invitation from the Zwinglis. We are making plans for brunch._

_Now I'm off topic, going back to the pin, this is my mother's. It's always been hidden because I didn't think it right to risk it's injury, but I figured now was the right time to dust and polish the old thing._

_So cliche, no?_

_Remember to send pictures of everything, dear!_

_Love, _

_Mother_

_P.S. I came across this plain old dress at Diagon Alley the other day, apparently all they sell is dresses now! There is quite an anticipation for this Ball! Anyways, I revived it to what it is now, I do hope you like it, love._

Elizabeta smiled at the familiarity of her mother's frantic personality, silently willing herself to remember about the pictures, she turned to Lili, who had set the pin down and was once again admiring the dress.

"You'll try it on, right?" Lili looked at Elizabeta with a pleading expression.

Elizabeta was near positive it fit, seeing as it was something her mom helped create, but it wouldn't hurt just trying it on for fun. "Okay, one second."

She grabbed the dress, gloves, and pin, being very careful with all of them and rushed to the bathroom to change.

xxxXXXxxx

Things were uneventful up until the day of the dance, where she had no classes but plenty of time before she'd start getting ready. This wasn't too nerve wracking, and she went to settle herself down in the shade of a large tree that didn't have snow under it, opening her book that she wanted to finish.

Hogwarts was gorgeous on days like these, even though it was cold she was wrapped in plenty of robes to only feel a bit numb. Snow sparkled on the ground and first years skipped around kicking it up and throwing it. Other people merely walked through it, oblivious, but most people in a way skipped around in it, acting like children.

She sat there a while before anything happened, but it made it all the worse when a certain Beilschmidt came up to her.

"Hey Liza." Gilbert said, sounding too casual having lost the annoying whine in his voice that made him sound like an asshole (Rightly so).

Elizabeta stood up, eyeing him with an angry glare. "I thought Antonio said he'd get you to _leave me alone_."

"Ha, it's funny how you'd think I'd listen to him." Gilbert said, sounding unamused.

"I'm going to the Ball with someone else, I'm not interested." Elizabeta said cooly.

Gilbert was quiet.

"If you wanted to ask me, you could've at least done it in person." She continued.

Gilbert frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. "That was just on a whim. Now I'm so glad that you said no." He growled to himself and Elizabeta heard him say "Bitch." Under his breath.

"Than why are you here, exactly?" She growled to him, this was ridiculous.

"Roderich Edelstein is a tosser." Gilbert said, ignoring her question, it was funny to hear him use the British term so casually.

"Jealous?" Elizabeta paused. "_Roderich Edelstein_ is a far better date than you would've been."

"You should feel lucky that I asked-" Gilbert started, but Elizabeta was done with this.

"Fuck that and fuck you. I'm tired of being told that. Now, please, leave me be." She turned in a flurry of robes and anger, but Gilbert trailed after her.

"I'm not trying to ask you again-!" He was saying. Elizabeta ignored this and kept walking, the scene was eyed with boredom from the other Hogwarts students, seeing as this wasn't an irregular occurrence, but some Durmstrang and Beauxbaton students noticed the display with suspicion.

This scene was cut short finally by a pretty Beauxbaton stepping between them, it was hard to hear her French accent as she spoke, and it didn't even sound too French. "Is there a problem?" She asked, looking much more amused than concerned.

Gilbert smirked. "Well, not with me." The three stood there in silence for a moment, until someone from down the hall yelled "Gilbert!" And said person turned with a frown, he looked at Elizabeta one last time, flipped her the bird, and raced off.

"Well than." Huffed the girl. "I'm assuming that was about the ball, yes?" The girl tugged at a lock of hair and flipped her head towards where Gilbert had left, Elizabeta spotted a red bow wrapped in her hair. This was the girl that had cheered Lili up a while ago.

"Yes, I turned him down a while ago and he was just giving me grief about my date." Elizabeta smiled apologetically.

"Sounds like an ass." The girl said.

"Have we met?" Elizabeta asked her.

"Not directly, no. But I have heard you're quite the heartbreaker from some sixth years...well, for a Ravenclaw?" The girl raised her eyebrows.

"Of course you did." Elizabeta deadpanned, her eyes narrowed.

The girl cocked her head curiously. "Oh, I'm Belle." She held out a hand. Elizabeta shook it politely, thinking this Elizabeta took it, feeling weird for meeting a Beauxbaton in this uncommon way.

"I think I've met you- or, uh, heard of you." Elizabeta said.

"I've become quite popular with you Hogwarts folk." Belle smiled, a bit stiffly. She looked a bit to Elizabeta's side, grabbing a lock of her hair and looking at it with a smile. "Your hair is so pretty! And thick! How are you planning on wearing it tonight?"

Elizabeta returned her smile with slight confusion, she had a feeling that Belle was trying to stay away from the subject of her 'popularity' at Hogwarts. She couldn't help but wonder if Antonio was at all involved in that popularity, she had seemed pretty keen on him. "I'm not sure. Maybe up?" It was the first thing to come to her mind, Roderich had said she had looked good with her hair up, the thought made her cheeks redden.

Belle laughed at this "Maybe up? I'm not vain, but you might need some guidance." Belle dropped Elizabeta's hair.

Elizabeta smiled, normally she would be annoyed by the one-sided insult, but she was amused by Belle's honesty.

"You have natural curls, so I would suggest leaving some locks out and pinning the rest under the nape of your neck, it's modest, but quite pretty. And don't get me started on what it would do to your facial structure." Belle said.

"Oh, um, thanks." Elizabeta said.

Belle jumped in excitement. "You're welcome," She stood there awkwardly for a second, seemingly eyeing the hall for a way to end the conversation. "Anyways, I'll see you tonight! And don't let that Gilbert bother you!" Belle rushed off, ending their short exchange with a wave and a smile that lightened friendly features. She was like Antonio, and Elizabeta could see the appeal she supposedly had for the Slytherin.

Sighing, Elizabeta made her way back to her dorm, deciding she might as well start getting dressed up for the Ball.

Lili was sitting in their room already, and she brightened when Elizabeta entered. "I need help." She remarked, smiling helplessly.

"How so?" Elizabeta asked.

"With my hair, I was wondering if you could help it at all."

"You'd be better off with that Beauxbaton, Belle, she just stopped me in the hall and basically told me I must wear my hair up a certain way." Elizabeta said with an unintended eye roll.

"Really? That's odd. Anyways, help?" Lili tugged at her bow. "My hair is a bother long, but how do I wear it formally when it's short?"

Elizabeta smiled. "Well, you could curl it? But unless you want it awfully done, I'm not going to do it."

Lili sucked on her bottom lip. "Alright, I'll try that. How hard could it be?" Elizabeta's friend left to go attend her hair, usually the girls at Hogwarts were able to style their hair with their wands, but there was some sort of muggle device that could do it too.

Elizabeta studied herself in the mirror, poorly attempting to mimic what Belle had said to do to it without any pins, luckily Elizabeta was all too familiar with hairpins and began pinning locks of hair at the nape of her neck, more or less. A few curls still flew loose, but all in all it seemed she had gotten the look that Belle had wanted her to have.

"Hey Lili!" Elizabeta called, Lili popped her head through the doorframe, half of her hair done in ringlets. "It seems that the Beauxbaton's advice turned out pretty well."

Lili sighed. "Well, now I can only hope to be a tenth of as pretty as you'll be." She said this affectionately and smiled.

Elizabeta looked back at the mirror, Lili had rushed forward and had rifled through the package Elizabeta had received from her mom, pulling out the delicate white flower pin. She handed it to her friend. "I believe this'll complete the look."

Elizabeta delicately placed the pin in her hair, securing it so it wouldn't fall out. Lili studied her through the mirror, a somewhat goofy smile on her face.

"What?" Elizabeta asked her.

"Finish getting ready, we're going to a ball." Lili said brightly, turning around and skipping back to the bathroom to finish her hair's ringlets.

xxxXXXxxx

The decorations throughout the halls actually reminded Elizabeta that the ball was, in fact, on Christmas Eve. The red and green bows were huge and breathtaking, and she had never actually been at Hogwarts for Christmas, and the Christmas tree was pretty enough to make someone cry.

Lili's hair turned out to be something Lili began to take great pride in, her hair did look lovely and according to her took the attention away from her 'hideous dress'.

Lili, too, was admiring the gorgeous decorations but finally said they should go back to the Ravenclaw common room to find their dates. Elizabeta's friend seemed to not even care anymore about what Vash thought of her and Elizabeta being together. She sauntered in arm in arm with Elizabeta and smiled at Vash even though he returned it with a grimace.

Being Christmas Eve, it seemed Vash was at least trying to not be completely unbearable. He looked at Elizabeta and said "Roderich should be down soon."

Elizabeta nodded and waved a goodbye to Lili as Vash pulled her away. She actually didn't see Roderich until she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to find him. Roderich looked like he usually did except for a change in the formality of his clothes, but as his face flushed and he smiled at Elizabeta with a dreamy expression, she thought that he had never looked more handsome.

They stood there for a moment, studying the other. Finally Elizabeta stepped forward and shook herself out of her daze. "Hello." She breathed. "Should we go?"

Roderich still seemed to be at a loss for words, but he nodded and held out an arm. Elizabeta looked at it for a second and then took it, Roderich looked at her hand. "Your gloves." He said.

Elizabeta held out her other arm as they exited the Ravenclaw common room. "Oh, yes. I think they're just lovely, but I'm not sure where my mother got them? Honestly, I'm not sure about where a lot of the stuff I'm wearing came from."

"It doesn't really matter unless it looks good all the same." Roderich said, absentmindedly. Adding "Which, by the way leads me to say that you do look lovely."

"Yes, and thank you." Elizabeta said, dropping her arm, feeling flattered. "You know, this is one of the only times we've been together without a piano." She laughed to herself.

"This is one of the only times in my life I haven't been with a piano." Roderich said, sending Elizabeta a slightly nervous sideways glance.

"I don't doubt you." She said.

As they passed the beautiful Christmas tree, Elizabeta noticed two Hufflepuffs taking people's pictures in front of it, reminding her that her mother had wanted pictures, she'd have to convince Roderich at one point.

As they entered the ballroom, again Elizabeta first noticed the decorations. Everything was done up quite beautifully.

"It seems we're waiting for the Triwizard champions to join the waltz?" Roderich said, shuffling a bit on his feet. Elizabeta smiled at his uncharacteristic nervousness. Roderich turned to look at her, his brow furrowed. "You do know how to waltz, yes?"

"No more than Mcgonagall taught us." Elizabeta laughed, Roderich looked as if this was the strangest thing. "If you were looking for a date who could waltz you shouldn't have asked me."

Roderich sniffed. "It's fine, I can lead you, it isn't too hard." He said, smiling half-heartedly.

The music had started up, and Elizabeta turned to Roderich, who was looking at the middle of the ballroom, moving his jaw back and forth. The champions were dancing, and thank Merlin, some of them looked incredibly awkward. Specifically Harry Potter and whoever his date was.

More people joined in the dance, which meant more people seemed to not know what they were doing, luckily.

"Should we-?" Elizabeta started, receiving a nod as an answer and a pull towards the mass of dancing couples.

The dance basically started with her stepping on his foot, Elizabeta tripped forward, her mouth was already close to his ear so she whispered "This is waltzing, right?" This caused Roderich to laugh, his laugh was quiet but she felt his shoulders shake slightly because of it.

Yes, Roderich and her waltz was incredibly awkward but it ended up making both of them laugh in between her screwing up. People were beginning to step away from the dancing, and by the time Elizabeta bumped into someone else she was about done.

"Well, that was awful." She laughed to Roderich. "Sorry."

Roderich shrugged, he was smiling. "I don't care for dancing that much, anyways. The music is what I like of it."

"You couldn't have saved me back there." Elizabeta laughed, twirling a curl in her fingers. "We could try dancing again later, maybe?"

Roderich laughed "Is that the best idea?"

"Yeah, no." Elizabeta said. "We could find a dance with minimal movement." Elizabeta realized after she had said it that she had implied slow dancing, but Roderich's still amused expression kept her from feeling awkward about it.

"Would you like to sit?" Roderich asked her, indicating to an empty table.

"Oh, yes." Elizabeta said, Roderich pulled out a chair for her and sat down next to it. "Sorry, this doesn't seem very exciting, does it?"

Roderich smiled. "I'm having a good time."

Elizabeta laughed "Thanks for that."

After this, a familiar figure plopped down next to Elizabeta. "Hello, Roderich, Liza." Said a tired- looking Lili.

"Hello, you look nice tonight." Roderich said to Lili, who's face lit up, Elizabeta sent him a quick look of thanks.

"Why are you here?" Elizabeta asked.

"Vash got into a conversation with someone that was incredibly boring and I decided to find you. He didn't even notice I slipped away." Lili laughed. "So, hi!"

A few songs went by where Elizabeta, Lili, and Roderich just talked about this and that, and that was fun until a familiar voice interrupted the three. "Hey! You aren't dancing!"

Elizabeta narrowed her eyes at Roderich, not even wanting to turn and face the familiar figure of none other than-

Antonio Carriedo. Now, him showing up like this was getting dull.

It turned out that she didn't need to turn to see him, because he pulled a chair up between her and Lili, smiling. Elizabeta noticed that his dress robes looked very Spanish and very red and gold. Antonio said his friendly greetings to Lili, who looked a bit starstruck, and slid his gaze past Elizabeta and found his eyes set on Roderich. He practically leapt on top of the table to hold out a hand to Roderich, who sent Elizabeta an exasperated expression as he shook his hand.

Elizabeta was so distracted by this display that she hadn't noticed Lovino Vargas sit down at the last empty seat at the table. He didn't look too pleased to be there, his eyes were narrowed and they flitted around like a suspicious cat's.

"Are you two having fun?" Antonio asked, smiling a wider version of his usual grin.

"Yes." Elizabeta said, it was Christmas Eve, she was going to be nice to everyone even if they were a bit annoying.

"You should be dancing!" Said Antonio, "It's fun!".

"Even though this bastard is possibly the worst dancer ever." Growled Lovino from his seat. "Trust me, you don't want to be anywhere near him."

"Oh, Lovi, you were having fun!" Antonio half prodded- half caressed Lovino's jaw. Roderich and Lili, who had never seen the two's relationship up close, both had a very amused expressions.

Antonio was now chattering about useless things to Roderich, who had gone from amused to a bit annoyed.

Roderich looked at Elizabeta and shrugged. "Would you like to dance?" He asked her, giving in to the Spaniard.

Antonio had turned to her with an expectant smile. Elizabeta glanced back at Roderich. "Let's try it."

Lili stood up. "I should probably find Vash, too. Thanks for letting me intercept you two."

Roderich and Elizabeta nodded at her, and she rushed away, sending one last glance Lovino and Antonio's way, her expression scandalized and giddy.

"Have fun!" Antonio called, pulling Lovino up from his seat and abandoning the table.

"What do you think that was about?" Roderich asked.

Elizabeta had been thinking the same thing, she glanced back at the two "Well, you know Antonio, he feels like he has to talk to everyone." She paused "Even if they only know him a little bit."

"Yes." Roderich said, still confused.

Elizabeta enjoyed the dancing seeing as it was at a faster pace and had easier steps, she noticed that people had gotten oddly giddy and wondered if alcohol was being passed around.

At one of the tables there was a group of muggle-born kids singing Christmas carols in which you had either heard or totally hadn't. They were off key and laughing, but appeared to be having fun. Some were dancing with each other and others sat on top of the table just singing, most of the confused students watching looked to be Slytherins, she also noticed that the majority of the singing kids were either Gryffindors, or they didn't attend Hogwarts.

Somebody in the group jumped up and started at a fast pace towards Elizabeta. "Liza!" She called, "What did I tell you about your hair?" Elizabeta turned to Roderich with an exasperated expression.

"It seems we can't go uninterrupted." She whispered to her date. Roderich just looked amused.

Belle was up to the two of them by now and she smiled a friendly smile to Roderich, curtsy-ing in a stereotypical Beauxbaton way. "Well, your date's quite a catch." She said. Roderich straightened a bit at this (if that was possible), and Elizabeta held a glove in front of her face to hide her slight laugh.

Belle was wearing a tight and sleeveless orange dress which flared at the bottom like a mermaid's tail. It was clearly a more French style than the traditional gowns people were wearing, but it seemed to suit her. Her red bow was still firmly wrapped around a bun that was accented with small pearls. The gold earrings she was wearing looked like they were going to fall out at any second. Belle looked from Roderich to Elizabeta, she leaned close to Elizabeta's ear "What's his name again?"

"Roderich?" Elizabeta answered quietly back.

Belle straightened, smiling "Ah yes, with great apologies Roddy...Can I call you that? Anyways, may I steal your date for a moment?"

Elizabeta groaned, shaking her head at Roderich slightly, who's gaze only stayed on her for a second, he turned back to Belle. "Be my guest." He said politely, cocking his head towards a table "I'll wait here, Liza." Elizabeta glared at him, and he gaze was returned with a shrug and a smile, it seemed Belle was turning out to be just as annoying as Antonio, quite the horrifying couple those two would make out to be.

Belle pulled Elizabeta to a small corner, her smile now a bit concerned. "Have you seen Antonio?" She asked abruptly.

It took Elizabeta a second to take this in, and she narrowed her eyes at Belle "Yes, earlier, why?"

Belle looked slightly awkward, she began to mess with her gloves without looking at Elizabeta. "I just got the impression that you two were close, and I thought that-"

Elizabeta realized something as Belle said that, and she was slightly bugged by the realization. She was silent for a moment before interrupting Belle.

"Did you have this impression all along? Is that why you talked to me in the hallway earlier today?" Elizabeta accused, she wasn't hostile about it, but it seemed Belle had gotten the impression it was, she immediately held her hands up in defense, frowning.

"No, no! Of course not! Your hair really does look great and I-" Belle blabbered useless words, and spun around in annoyance. "I'm just getting myself into more trouble with you Hogwarts folk, aren't I?" She laughed nervously.

Elizabeta felt a pang of sympathy for Belle, who seemed at this point to had only used Elizabeta to farther pine.

"It's fine, you don't need to tell me anything. I should probably stop this anyways, or just look on my own." Belle said, biting the inside of her cheek, her usually pleasant features looked exhausted and a bit haunted, whatever thing that had happened between her and Antonio had really been tearing her up.

Elizabeta knew she was being too sympathetic when she said "Wait, I think I saw which way he went." But Belle almost reminded Elizabeta of Lili, and that might've been why she felt the need to help her. Her face lit up to it's normal brightness again, and Elizabeta felt she had made somewhat of a right decision.

Belle followed Elizabeta, sure to stay a distance away from her, clearly feeling bad. Elizabeta went into the hall she had seen Lovino and Antonio exit into.

"I think he's around here." She told Belle, who nodded at this. Elizabeta wanted to turn around and leave Belle to do the rest, but the girl looked extremely hopeful, so they continued walking.

Elizabeta was actually alerted by Belle's "Oh." As they rounded the corner, she had almost run into the girl at this point and had to stop.

There stood Antonio Carriedo and Lovino Vargas. Lovino looked as annoyed and embarrassed as ever, and he made sure not to meet Elizabeta's eyes. Antonio's eyebrows knit together, in confusion, and a bit of disappointment.

It took Elizabeta a second to realize that Belle had caught the two in a moment, an _intimate _moment. Both of the boy's hair was mussed and although they were both fully clothed (luckily), their dress robes were slightly awry.

Elizabeta felt her face go red and dared to look at Belle, who looked to be struggling to find words, even though her jaw was working as if she was going to talk. Elizabeta felt it was probably much more awkward for Belle than it was for herself.

Antonio, as expected broke the silence with a soft "Liza? Why are you out here?" His eyes glanced to Belle for a second, and Elizabeta followed his gaze.

Belle looked defeated, her face had fallen and large locks of her hair were swooping out of her bun.

Elizabeta shook her head, this wasn't going to be for nothing. "Belle was looking for you, and I helped."

"Well," Lovino snapped unkindly.

"I'll just be a moment, Lovi, I need to talk to Belle." Antonio said, his eyes glinting. Lovino looked like he wanted to say something about being told off, but he listened, pulling Elizabeta into the next hallway with him.

"There's no way he'd want you in there if he didn't want me, he's just too kind to say so." Lovino's tone had softened, but went right back to normal before Elizabeta could question it. "He's an ass." He continued, darkly.

"What do you think's going on?" Elizabeta asked.

"He's going to let himself be sympathetic for that nosy bitch." Lovino said, scratching the back of his neck. "I know it."

"I don't think she intended-" Elizabeta started in defense, but was cut off by a glare from Lovino. She sighed "I guess people at this school have trouble with knowing no means no."

Lovino shrugged at this, still not losing his annoyed expression, he kept glancing down the hall, waiting for Antonio. "That bastard is taking a long time." He muttered, and Elizabeta merely eyed him with curiosity.

There uneventful conversation was cut off by footsteps, Elizabeta turned to Antonio, who smiled. "You're still here? That's good." Elizabeta had just than realized she could've left at any time, she felt a pang of guilt for abandoning Roderich, but then remembered he was the one who had gotten her stuck in this mess.

"Oh, yeah, where's Belle?" Elizabeta asked, Antonio's pained expression told her to not question further.

"You took fucking forever," Lovino said, but his tone was less annoyed.

Antonio laughed at this and threw an arm around Lovino, leaning his head towards his ear. "Did my Lovi miss me? Or were you perhaps jealous?" Elizabeta could barely make out the words, but averted her eyes from the two, looking for Belle.

Belle emerged from the end of the hall, her dress a bit wrinkled as if she had been sitting down, her hair was done up again and she stood tall, winking and waving at Elizabeta as she passed. If it hadn't been for her puffy eyes, Elizabeta would've assumed nothing was wrong. She wondered what Antonio had said to her.

Belle seemed to be heading back to the ballroom, and Elizabeta reminded herself that she should get back there soon. "I should-"

Antonio pulled his arm from Lovino and tapped Elizabeta's shoulder as she was leaving "Wait!" He called.

"Yes?" She asked.

"You need to find Gilbert." Antonio said, his voice serious.

Elizabeta groaned, her head facing the ceiling. Why was this still going on, would it ever end? "Fuck no, I want to spend my night with Roderich, not deal with that ass."

Antonio looked awkward, glancing from Elizabeta to Lovino. "Please? As a friend?"

"Begging will do you no good." Elizabeta snapped.

Antonio tapped his fingers together. "Well, we'd have done similar things, dealt with our problems and-"

At Elizabeta's disgusted expression, Lovino stepped forward. "Look, I don't like the guy any more than you do. He's an egomaniac and a fucking bitch, but this bastard-" He indicated to Antonio "Is asking for an eye for a fucking eye. Is that so hard?"

Antonio smiled, pulling Lovino affectionately closer to him, Lovino attempted to pull away by shoving and punching his arm. "It's Christmas, aren't we supposed to set things right? Or at least some-what?" Lovino ceased attempting to escape the grasp of Antonio and leaned into him.

"It isn't Christmas yet." Elizabeta pointed out.

The corners of Antonio's mouth twitched up farther. "But, it will be," He paused, pulling up his sleeve and checking a watch. "In approximately an hour and thirty minutes. You have time to make things right with Gilbert and spend time with Roderich." Antonio looked hopeful.

"Were you kind to Belle?" Elizabeta asked, wanting to know before she agreed to anything.

"Is he ever not kind? It's unbearable." Lovino muttered.

Antonio's smile lessened "I set things right, and said what I had to say. That is all, amiga."

"Fine." Elizabeta said. "But- this time you have to really leave me alone when it comes to Gilbert, and put more force into telling him to stay away from me."

Antonio shrugged. "Done." He held out a hand, and Elizabeta shook it, setting a deal.

She had a feeling this was either a thankful end or a faulty beginning.

xxxXXXxxx

Antonio had given directions to where he thought Gilbert was and said he would alert Roderich of where she was. Elizabeta's eyes felt heavy. Even though it was only ten thirty, there was too much going on for this. She felt bad that she had left Roderich for as long as she had, and all she wanted was to go and finish the Ball and have fun with him.

But, alas, a deal was a deal.

Elizabeta didn't know what to expect of this, she and Gilbert had already left off at an awkward point, and she didn't want to do this at all.

The Hogwarts halls were near empty, Elizabeta hadn't noticed this when she had been with Belle.

It was the left corridor in the main hallway Gilbert was supposedly in, so when she got to the main hallway she stood there for a while, having an urge to stall and then remembering she had a date waiting for her, and she didn't want to be rude.

Shaking her head, she started down the hall, nearly immediately seeing Gilbert slouching on a bench with his head down. As she got closer, she saw another figure there. That was odd, she hadn't seen him there before. Elizabeta studied the other boy, who seemed to be at least trying to reassure Gilbert.

The boy had blonde hair and glasses, and she did a double take. Was that Alfred Jones? She looked closer. No, the boy's hair was a bit longer than Alfred's, but he did look uncannily like him.

Elizabeta remembered hearing about Alfred having a brother, and she thought that this must've been him. What was his name? Mitchell? Matthias? Mason? She couldn't remember.

It took a while for -insert name here- to notice her, because Gilbert definitely wasn't going to. As he focused kind eyes on her his face seemed to light up with recognition.

"You're Liza." He said, his voice soft and barely audible.

Had Gilbert been talking to him about her? She pushed this thought away and smiled. "Well...yeah. Hi. Liza." She held out a hand.

"Matthew." The boy replied with a smile. "Hufflepuff, I'm in your Charms class. I think you thought I was my brother for a while there."

Elizabeta smiled apologetically. "Oh,"

Matthew glanced back at Gilbert. "Well, it's probably best that you...talk to him. I have a date to get back to."

Matthew seemed to be gone before Elizabeta could even see him leave. She sat down next to Gilbert, who hadn't moved since she had first gotten there.

Elizabeta didn't know what to do, she guessed he was probably drunk to some extent, and that's part of the reason he was acting this way, she finally decided to prod his shoulder with a gloved hand.

Gilbert wiped a hand over his face and sat up, his eyes widening when he saw who was sitting next to him.

Elizabeta repressed the urge to be rude and grimaced "Hey."

"Hi, Liza." Gilbert said casually. She caught a whiff of alcohol and swallowed, almost wanting to get her own, but at the same time grossed out.

Elizabeta didn't know what to say back, so she smiled ever so slightly, her stomach churning. Gilbert looked, well, pathetic. His eyes had rings under them even though she had only just seen him earlier today.

She noticed Gilbert surveying her dress and hair, his face confused. Elizabeta crossed her arms over her chest in fear of his eyes wandering.

"You look...pretty." He said quietly.

"Thanks." Elizabeta replied stiffly.

"Look, Liza, I'm really sorry." Gilbert said, his eyes meeting hers. He looked so sad and guilty, and Elizabeta refrained yet again from being sympathetic.

Elizabeta was quiet.

"I'm sorry for being a dick when I liked you and being even more of a dick because I can't handle rejection-"

"I know." She interrupted, not wanting to get any more angry.

"What?" Gilbert asked.

"I know that you're sorry, I was told." Elizabeta said. "I was sent to make peace."

Gilbert blinked. "Oh."

"Yeah." She paused. "This doesn't mean I don't think you're a dick."

"Yeah." Gilbert said.

"Well, that's that." Elizabeta stood up.

"Merry Christmas." Gilbert said, smirking and holding up his hand in a small wave, looking at Gilbert one last time, Elizabeta admitted to herself she felt a bit bad for him, she was still angry that he had treated her the way he had- but, it was Christmas.

Her damn sympathy took over again, and before she even realized what she was doing, she leaned down and kissed Gilbert on the cheek, quickly and softly, as she would've done to a family member when she was in a hurry. Elizabeta turned away before she could see his expression. "Merry Christmas." She said, waving a hand over her head in goodbye.

Elizabeta still hated him, but felt this was enough peace to satisfy Antonio, even if Gilbert seemed wasted enough to not be able to remember any of it in the morning (that wasn't necessarily a bad thing). Elizabeta reminded herself that if she had come across Gilbert without Antonio's deal, she probably would've had to restrain in getting physically violent, as she almost had this morning.

She could easily beat Gilbert in a fight, probably along with Antonio and Francis if need be.

Elizabeta felt herself let out a sigh of relief as she entered the ballroom again, she spotted Francis, and sighing, she tapped his shoulder, not missing the opportunity to get someone to bring Gilbert up to his Slytherin dorm. Francis turned with a pleasant smile, a tan-skinned girl on his arm who looked like a Beauxbaton.

"Oh, Liza, how are y-"

"Gilbert is in the hall out there, incredibly drunk." Elizabeta said dismissively, trying to find Roderich at one of the tables, it didn't take long to find him seeing as many people had already left the ball.

Francis apologized to the girl on his arm in what sounded like French. "Ah, Gilbert and his alcohol. Thank you for helping his safety." He raised an eyebrow, and waved goodbye, an annoyed expression on his face.

Elizabeta found Roderich and apologized profusely, explaining some of what happened.

"I already heard this from Antonio." He said, smiling at her. Although he did look a bit bored and annoyed, Elizabeta still thanked herself for snagging such a pleasant date. "It's fine, we still have about an hour until midnight."

Elizabeta nodded, feeling guilty her mind was a bit preoccupied on the night's previous events.

"So, what would you like to do?" She heard Roderich say, his voice soft.

Elizabeta looked up at him. "Oh, uh, pictures!" Roderich looked confused and Elizabeta coughed into her glove to hide slight embarrassment. "My mom, she uh, wanted pictures."

Roderich looked conflicted for a moment. "Okay." He said after a while.

"I saw people taking pictures in front of the tree in the main hallway."

"Yeah, alright."

They headed to the main hallway, surprised to see that it was nearly empty except for people who were sitting together at the empty tables and who appeared to be the two photographers.

The photographers looked familiar and Elizabeta realized they were both sixth year Hufflepuffs. One of them was lounged on top of a table on his stomach, an arm holding up his head and his eyes half closed in boredom. The other seemed to be fiddling with a camera, a confused expression across good-natured features.

The one fiddling with the camera looked up and smiled nervously. "Oh, hello. Would you like a picture?"

"Yes." Roderich said. "Is there a problem?" He asked.

The student standing next to the camera glanced at it with an expression of disdain. "Well- it's probably an easily fixed problem, I just can't find the right spell." He glanced from Elizabeta to Roderich, turning back to the camera. "I bet Eduard would know." He muttered to himself.

Roderich looked confused, the one lounging on his belly rolled to sit up, his feet on the bench of the table.

"Like, the Weasley twins thought it'd be funny to mess with his equipment." He laughed, glancing at the other photographer, who looked very troubled. "It kind of was." Elizabeta looked at the Hufflepuff on the table, recognizing him from one of her classes.

"You're Feliks, right?" She asked.

Feliks lied back down, hands on his stomach. "Yup. He's Toris." He waved a hand towards the other photographer.

Toris looked up with a tight and apologetic smile. "Haha, well it seems the only way you guys will get a picture is if this camera is fixed. Anybody have a wand on them?"

Roderich stepped forward, pulling out his wand "I can try to help." He said. "I'm not great with technical stuff, though."

"Oh, that's fine. It's probably best we got a Ravenclaw to help us." He paused. "Most of the Gryffindors, though their tries were heroic, ended up making it worse." Toris laughed a more fearful sounding laugh.

"Well, hello." Elizabeta said to Feliks, as Roderich helped Toris.

"Hey." Said Feliks, turning his head to look at her. "Where'd you get that pin? It's totally awesome."

Elizabeta subconsciously reached for the pin, smiling "Family heirloom."

Feliks rolled his eyes. "Of course,"

"Cliche, right?" She laughed to herself. "I'm happy I have it, though."

"Yeah, whatever." Feliks said. "How long do we have until the ball is over?" He asked.

"About forty-five minutes."

"I was supposed to go to the ball, until Toris' friend Eduard left us here to go 'dance' with some Slytherin." Feliks said. "He totally owes us." He growled, sitting up again, exasperated. "I didn't, like, sign up for this."

"That sucks." Elizabeta said, suppressing laughter.

"You bet it doe-"

Feliks was interrupted by a triumphant yell from Toris. "Yes! You fixed it!" She turned to Roderich, who looked triumphant despite himself, and was clearly trying not to smile too widely at his success, slipping his wand into a pocket in his dress robes, he shrugged to Elizabeta.

"You want to take that picture?" He asked her. She nodded in reply. Toris looked up at them, grinning.

"You two can just stand in front of the tree. How many pictures would you like?" Toris said, behind him, Feliks studied the two of them, a slightly mischievous smirk on his face.

Elizabeta looked at Roderich, and when he realized that she was expecting something from him he said "Uh, two?"

"Yup." Feliks said from behind them, swinging his legs like a schoolgirl. He locked eyes with Toris and held up two fingers "Dwójka." Toris nodded, seemingly this wasn't an odd occurrence for the two.

Roderich and Elizabeta stood in front of the tree, and Roderich seemed very confused to what he was supposed to do. Toris looked at him sympathetically, while Feliks looked at the two with an amused expression.

Elizabeta smiled despite herself and hoping she wasn't blushing too obviously, she grabbed Roderich's hand and positioned it on her waist. With a stifled laugh she said "I'm your date, not your sister."

Roderich looked embarrassed and conflicted, but when Toris indicated he was going to take the picture he threw all that aside and proved to be actually quite photogenic. Elizabeta laughed at this, and covered her mouth with a glove, Roderich looked at her and laughed slightly himself.

The picture was good, and Elizabeta found herself quite proud of it as she studied her and Roderich's faces contort into laughter, yes, it was a very good picture.

"Thank you." She said to Toris, and turned to Feliks "And you too."

"I hope you guys have a nice night!" Toris said, waving and smiling.

"Like, totally." Feliks said, laying back down into his previous position again and immediately getting into a quickly spoken and hard to understand conversation with Toris.

Elizabeta automatically started heading in the way of the ballroom, but Roderich stopped her. "Liza, there are only five minutes until the professors have to shut down the Ball."

"Really?" She looked at the nearest clock, and realized Roderich was right. "Wow, that's odd. Do you want to beat the crowd to the house?" She asked Roderich.

Roderich smiled, his features attempting to mask his embarrassment. "I don't think it's worth it going back in there. I might die if I hear a note more of that music-"

"Is it too '_amateur'_ for the great" Elizabeta paused for dramatic effect. "Roderich Edelstein?"

Roderich sniffed "Well, no, it's just-" He paused. "The Weird Sisters aren't my kind of music."

"Ah." Elizabeta said "Yeah, you're too stuffy for that 'kind of music'."

"Hah." Roderich said dryly.

By the time they got back to the Ravenclaw common room, they felt they'd stand there for a while before retreating to their dorms.

"I had a really nice night, Liza." Roderich said from where he stood, Elizabeta smiled at him.

"Sorry I was gone, like, half of it. We need to set up a thing where I can't be interrupted. How's Hogsmeade sound?" She laughed ruefully, Roderich smiled at this.

"I didn't completely bore you then?" He asked.

"O-of course not! Why do you even think that? If you bored me than I would've avoided that music room at all costs."

"Did you enjoy the night?" Roderich asked, his eyes glinting with curiosity.

"Well, I had to do a few things against my will, but, overall?" She paused. "I think I had a better night than Belle, Toris, and Feliks, but a worse night than Antonio and Lovino."

"That's a good way to measure things."

"It sure as hell is." Elizabeta paused. "Again, thank you for tonight, and any boring part of it was probably my fault, so I'm sorry."

Roderich nodded, he looked like he was about to say something but was interrupted by the sound of a clock chiming. "It's midnight." He said "People will be coming from the dance now."

"Yeah, I should head up soon." She paused, studying Roderich. They were standing awfully close. "Goodnight?"

Roderich looked at Elizabeta, his eyes flitting in a quick movement across her face. Had they paused on her lips?

Before Elizabeta could think about it any longer, Roderich leaned down and kissed her quickly and hesitantly. It had barely started before he pulled away, smiling at her ever so slightly, his eyes glinting "Goodnight, Liza."

Elizabeta looked at Roderich and laughed, without thinking she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him closer. "You always have to be the proper one, don't you?" She kissed him, feeling him stiffen for a moment in surprise before returning it. Elizabeta smiled inwardly.

This, this was definitely the better kiss she had given this night.

* * *

_Wow, did you last all the way through this? If you did read all the way through, thanks! So, this idea came to me a long time ago during the Polar Vortex? I started a USUK Yule Ball AU then but it died a young death, but recently I was sucked back into a story with this love triangle (Yay? Seriously guys they get me every time it's a problem). Anyways, after I finished I was overwhelmed with sadness that this was over because I really had a __**Ball**__ writing it (Buh dum tish), so I decided that I was going to do a bunch of different Pottertalia ships attending the Yule Ball/ their perspective on it and stuff. Obviously I kind of already started the ball rolling for Spamano and Lietpol because I couldn't help myself...um, sorry. I probably will also do a USUK one because that seems to be what everybody on this site does and it's my mega OTP. So, yeah those are my plans. Any idea on what lovely couple I should do next?_

_BTW, in case no one knew, Belle is Belgium. I know she doesn't have a canon name so I kind of just went with it? Aha. Clearly, I have a thing for one-sided SpaBel so. I hope most people knew who she was, this was just in case!_

_Also, I know that technically Liechtenstein and Hungary aren't really that good of friends in canon...but I really like their friendship, okay?_


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